over pressurized oil filter

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Post some pictures of the filter, shouldn't be too hard to see if it ballooned. Also would be a good idea to take the filter apart to see what the internals look like. Sounds to me like it could be a defective filter, in which case it wouldn't be the shop responsible for the damage. You would have to go after the filter manufacturer.


If it was a good shop, they'd have recourse through their supplier. They should stick up for problems associated with their workmanship and their products they sell, and in turn should be reimbursed through their supplier or one of the many programs available to shops.

All this is assuming that the op didn't bring on more trouble by not doing his share of due diligence when he said that he found it be leaking in his drive, BEFORE his son drove it.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Sounds like a good reason to change one's own oil.You would think contracting out to someone else would place the burden on them,however everybody will say anything to avoid the expense of repair.Sorta does not make it worth it.


It's an oil change shop. It's what they do. Consumers should be able to expect this service to be performed correctly by an enterprise whose sole focus is this same procedure.

I mean, come on. That's like telling someone to pull their own teeth because all dentists are simply idiots who couldn't get into medical school.


The next time your dentist, who I assume is paid within $1/hr. of minimum wage, pulls out one of your teeth without looking to make sure it's the right one because he's too busy to look away from his cell phone that argument might work.

 

[TallPaul]

Don't take the filter apart yet. It may need to be whole for your case against the oil change company, or taken apart with witnesses and photographs.

 

[Kruse]

I may be wandering off-topic...slightly, since photos have yet to appear. But this is the reason I will not run a Chinese no-name filter on any of my vehicles, no matter how good it looks when it is cut open or no matter how much money you save by using it.
After all, who would you go after if it failed and took your engine with it?

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Post some pictures of the filter, shouldn't be too hard to see if it ballooned. Also would be a good idea to take the filter apart to see what the internals look like. Sounds to me like it could be a defective filter, in which case it wouldn't be the shop responsible for the damage. You would have to go after the filter manufacturer.


If it was a good shop, they'd have recourse through their supplier. They should stick up for problems associated with their workmanship and their products they sell, and in turn should be reimbursed through their supplier or one of the many programs available to shops.

All this is assuming that the op didn't bring on more trouble by not doing his share of due diligence when he said that he found it be leaking in his drive, BEFORE his son drove it.


True, you would think a reputable shop would step up and do the right thing, but most places will just pass the buck whenever possible.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
I may be wandering off-topic...slightly, since photos have yet to appear. But this is the reason I will not run a Chinese no-name filter on any of my vehicles, no matter how good it looks when it is cut open or no matter how much money you save by using it.
After all, who would you go after if it failed and took your engine with it?


After doing some searching, it appears that Performax filters are a division of SOPUS, and the filters are made by Purolator.

 

[Silk]

There's no reason for your mechanic to back up the lube shop, you'd think he'd rather put it back on them for taking the lube work away from his shop. Any workmanship issues are theirs, not his. We need to see that filter!

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: joer
oil was shooting out from where the screw on filter (preformax PO19)was installed. a day later my son used the truck and 5 miles later it broke down.
Can we assume you (or he) refilled it with oil before it was driven again? And in any case, why was a vehicle with a known bad oil leak allowed to be driven in the first place?

 

[joer]

No, the leak went unoticed.I may have mistyped. The oil must have been leaking all along. Once the car was driven home and parked it stayed there till the next night. It was not known there was a leak until the truck broke down. I have the filter, it is ballooned. they company wanted it but i wouldn't give it to them. I beleive it was a defective filter or to much oil was put in the motor.

 

[yonyon]

I don't see how a filter with conventional construction could fail in such a way as to cause ballooning. Look at some of the pictures of cut-open filters. There's just nothing there that could block the flow like that. I mean, maybe tiny gremlins could possibly cut the ADBV, cut the filter media, and wrap the ADBV around the center tube. For that to just happen as a result of a defect...

If you send the filter manufacturer they'll know. If you're afraid to trust them you could send it to a competing filter manufacturer.

 

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted By: joer
that is what was thought at first but one of the managers that removed the filter said there was no old gasket remaining. they wanted the filter they installed but i wouldn't give it to them. they said they wanted to send it out for testing. i dont know what a new one looks like. if it's buldged or not.


You are in a "Catch-22" situation. You can huff and puff and lawyer up all you want, but if you do not allow the oil change place custody of filter of send off and testing, you are going to loose a lot of legal leverage going forward.

Basically, the longer you keep the filter away from the oil change manager and off the vehicle, they have grounds to just deny that they cannot reasonable claim the filter you have is what they actually installed and/or make claim you tampered with it.

Unless you got deep pockets to do a "CSI" investigation on your own dime and take them to court with 50/50 chance at best winning, you have to take a leap of faith and let them work the process from their end.

Whether the oil filter was installed by you or the oil change place, the respective filter maker has a recovery process and kits they send out for return and analysis. The longer you or your mechanic plays with it off the vehicle, the less chance of finding out or getting closer to the cause it will be. If you or your mechanic actually plays junior investigator and cuts it open, all bets are off and you are then at a "he said, he said" Mexican standoff.

While timing gives suspect to a defective install or other issue, sometimes it is just that time and eventually statistical probability that something actually failed on your vehicle outside of the control of the oil change.

You have a difficult road ahead.

 

[PandaBear]

If I were you in this situation, I'd contact the vendor of the filter and ask them to send someone to inspect it with your mechanic and the oil change place together. I don't buy the "it is a bad oil pump" argument because it is more likely that the oil pump is bad because all the oil leaked out instead.

Take pictures and have your mechanic be witness if possible, and demand either the oil filter vendor (less likely) or the oil change shop (more likely) pick up the bill for the engine rebuild/swap.

 

[1 FMF]

for the filter to bulge or balloon does not mean there is an oil leak. it's when the filter splits from bursting, and burst pressure is like 150 psi or more for most oil filters you can google it. and the top of the filter where the gasket is and it mates to the block is the strongest part of the filter, it is not going to balloon there to break that seal and leak. so if it did leak it most likely is from the filter not being tight enough or two gaskets from the old one being left on which is most likely.
and overfilling any engine with oil will not increase oil pressure, it simply does not work like that. only way pressure can increase is for the bearings and lifters to not leak or flow any oil and for the oil pump relief spring to not open. most pumps are set at 70 psi or lower.
and fwiw i had a 4-cyl boat motor seize from running on no oil, only seized one rod bearing. so if there was nothing wrong internally prior to this chances are you are looking at only one or two bearings that are shot so if you do the rebuild yourself or have to pay for it be aware you don't necessarily need a whole new engine or a complete rebuild.

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: Kruse
I may be wandering off-topic...slightly, since photos have yet to appear. But this is the reason I will not run a Chinese no-name filter on any of my vehicles, no matter how good it looks when it is cut open or no matter how much money you save by using it.
After all, who would you go after if it failed and took your engine with it?


After doing some searching, it appears that Performax filters are a division of SOPUS, and the filters are made by Purolator.


Correct.